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fionafsw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book has two parts. Part I is told from the perspective of an Israeli army officer in 1948 who leads an operation to rid the Negev of Arabs. He enables and participates in the gang rape and murder of a Palestinian girl. Part II is told from the perspective of a Palestinian living in Ramallah 25 years later who learns about this and sets out to find out more. The book ends with her ultimately also being shot in the back by Israeli soldiers in the desert.
Part I was understatement done to absolute perfection. The austerity of the writing and lack of embellishment highlighted the author's mastery of creating scenes and tension. The feeling of vague foreboding never goes away, even as you wonder what it is exactly that you are worried about. At the end of Part I, I could see why the book had won an award.
Part II was written in such a vastly different voice and style, it was like being splashed with cold water. It was hard to believe I was still reading the same book by the same author. The voice was jarring, discordant and stressful to listen to. Narrated in first person, you never get much context or detail or explanation; instead, you get submerged in what feels like neurosis.
At first, this annoyed me. There goes that rave 5-star review, I thought. I missed the sober calm tone and pace of Part I, even as horrible atrocities are being committed. I thought the author had missed the mark completely in the second act.
Then I read some reviews and realised that this was intentional (duh). The permanent panic, fear, indecisiveness, and sense of whether you're losing your mind are some of the effects of wiping out a country off the map, renaming places, rewriting memories, and erasing an entire people. There is loss of everything, not just of land but of collective history and memory. Nakba was and continues to be a severance that has untethered the Palestinian people.
This 'catastrophe', this tragedy, this trauma, this illegal displacement, this ethnic cleansing, this genocide of the Palestinian people - this is history that continues to play out today, over 75 years later, in as violent and unconscionable a way as never before. Israel and its supporters, shame on you. And to those of us sitting at home in countries supplying Israel with money and arms to carry out this genocide, too lazy, apathetic or afraid to speak up and do something, we are complicit, and we have blood on our hands. Shame on us.
Coincidentally, Nakba Day is on the same day as the anniversary of my dad's death. And coincidentally, the central event of the book, the day that so grips our Part II protagonist, not least because she was born 25 years later to the day, is my birthday.
Part I was understatement done to absolute perfection. The austerity of the writing and lack of embellishment highlighted the author's mastery of creating scenes and tension. The feeling of vague foreboding never goes away, even as you wonder what it is exactly that you are worried about. At the end of Part I, I could see why the book had won an award.
Part II was written in such a vastly different voice and style, it was like being splashed with cold water. It was hard to believe I was still reading the same book by the same author. The voice was jarring, discordant and stressful to listen to. Narrated in first person, you never get much context or detail or explanation; instead, you get submerged in what feels like neurosis.
At first, this annoyed me. There goes that rave 5-star review, I thought. I missed the sober calm tone and pace of Part I, even as horrible atrocities are being committed. I thought the author had missed the mark completely in the second act.
Then I read some reviews and realised that this was intentional (duh). The permanent panic, fear, indecisiveness, and sense of whether you're losing your mind are some of the effects of wiping out a country off the map, renaming places, rewriting memories, and erasing an entire people. There is loss of everything, not just of land but of collective history and memory. Nakba was and continues to be a severance that has untethered the Palestinian people.
This 'catastrophe', this tragedy, this trauma, this illegal displacement, this ethnic cleansing, this genocide of the Palestinian people - this is history that continues to play out today, over 75 years later, in as violent and unconscionable a way as never before. Israel and its supporters, shame on you. And to those of us sitting at home in countries supplying Israel with money and arms to carry out this genocide, too lazy, apathetic or afraid to speak up and do something, we are complicit, and we have blood on our hands. Shame on us.
Coincidentally, Nakba Day is on the same day as the anniversary of my dad's death. And coincidentally, the central event of the book, the day that so grips our Part II protagonist, not least because she was born 25 years later to the day, is my birthday.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Genocide, Murder, and Rape
haisaikaren's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Sexual violence, Rape, and Murder
mirandaleighhhh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
I've read essay compilations from students in Gaza; I've read academic text about the changing definitions of antisemitism, about occupation and surveillance, about the ongoing genocide that began in 1948 - all of it gut-wrenching, needless, and horrifying. But in so few pages, this struck a chord in me that I will not soon forget.
The first part was difficult to read - I found myself shaking and sick to my stomach. The second part is equally as difficult to read but for different reasons. There is nothing that I can say better than this text did - it should be required reading in place of Albert Camus' The Stranger.
The cancellation of the literary prize for this book in Germany for expressing, "antisemitic attitudes" (utter bullshit) is deplorable and disgusting. The violence against the Palestinian people and the erasure of their experiences and very existence must end.
The first part was difficult to read - I found myself shaking and sick to my stomach. The second part is equally as difficult to read but for different reasons. There is nothing that I can say better than this text did - it should be required reading in place of Albert Camus' The Stranger.
The cancellation of the literary prize for this book in Germany for expressing, "antisemitic attitudes" (utter bullshit) is deplorable and disgusting. The violence against the Palestinian people and the erasure of their experiences and very existence must end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder
brynalexa's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The first part was extremely emotional to read. It’s very hard to put yourself into a camp of bigoted colonizers for 50 pages. The second part was two parts lovely and one part dread. It came together in the end. Very moving.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Rape, Colonisation, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Racism, Kidnapping, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Gun violence, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Islamophobia
Minor: Alcohol and Genocide
teaselkie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, War, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Gun violence
Minor: Animal cruelty
caprivoyant's review against another edition
It feels like someone broke their heart open and put it on paper to write this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Murder, and Rape
noella19's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A masterpiece.
Poetic.
That ending broke me. Not sure what I expected but still I didn’t want that.
Poetic.
That ending broke me. Not sure what I expected but still I didn’t want that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, War, Rape, Xenophobia, and Torture
roaming_enn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
4.0
This book was written in two parts: third person from the POV of the Israeli officer that ends up raping a Palestinian girl in 1949, a year after the Nakba; and first person from the POV of a young Palestinian woman who learns about the girl's rape and murder in 1949 some fifty years or so later.
Every character is unnamed. The first part is from the POV of the Israeli soldier because nobody has ever learned about the girl's experience from her herself. The unnamed soldier is on patrol in the desert with his squad (I'm sure I'm not using these terms correctly). He receives an animal bite one night, and the bite swells up until he is in a lot of pain and barely able to move. This humanizes him and I felt sorry for him for a bit...until I read the rape scene. So of course I was glad he was in pain and I wished pain upon him for the rest of his days.
The second part is from the POV of the Palestinian young woman in present-day West Bank. She is transfixed by the story of the girl's fate because of one minor detail: the fact that it happened exactly 25 years before her birth. So she sets out on a perilous journey to find out more about this girl. Borders are a big part of her narrative; she feels compelled to cross borders when she sees them, and she can't always tell when she's gone too far. And this fact may prove fatal to her, especially given how dangerous it is to be Palestinian in a world ruled by Israel.
This was a poignant story, parallel lives, one moving from beyond the grave to affect the other's.
Every character is unnamed. The first part is from the POV of the Israeli soldier because nobody has ever learned about the girl's experience from her herself. The unnamed soldier is on patrol in the desert with his squad (I'm sure I'm not using these terms correctly). He receives an animal bite one night, and the bite swells up until he is in a lot of pain and barely able to move. This humanizes him and I felt sorry for him for a bit...until I read the rape scene. So of course I was glad he was in pain and I wished pain upon him for the rest of his days.
The second part is from the POV of the Palestinian young woman in present-day West Bank. She is transfixed by the story of the girl's fate because of one minor detail: the fact that it happened exactly 25 years before her birth. So she sets out on a perilous journey to find out more about this girl. Borders are a big part of her narrative; she feels compelled to cross borders when she sees them, and she can't always tell when she's gone too far. And this fact may prove fatal to her, especially given how dangerous it is to be Palestinian in a world ruled by Israel.
This was a poignant story, parallel lives, one moving from beyond the grave to affect the other's.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Murder
ghost_rider's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Gun violence, and Murder
maddiereadswords's review against another edition
4.5
A book that is equal parts heavy and powerful. Check the trigger warnings before reading, but god is it worth a read if you can handle it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Death, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, War, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Sexual violence, Murder, Racism, and Rape